Columbus Is a Villian

Synthesis of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was needed in American history to show how the United States came to be, and in order to have become that civilization, a weaker (or maybe less developed) had to suffer the consequences. If Columbus had not sailed to the islands off of America, someone else would have, whether they would have been kind to the natives, no one will ever know. The idea of the world being round was not only his idea, there were others who thought the same thing and one of them would of acted on that idea eventually. Columbus is a Hero in the eyes of those he helped succeed, but in any other he was a murderous greedy man after gold.

People used to think that a ways away from shore the ocean ended in darkness and there were monster that would swallow your ship and you would never be seen again, but that didn’t stop Columbus.  He was so sure that the world was round he convinced Queen Isabella to let him sail and find out. He said that he would bring back goods from India, and that it was on the other side of the Ocean. His first voyage he found Islands with native who had tiny bits of gold hanging from their ears. He thought that these people would make good slaves and that they had to have gold, so he sailed back to Spain to tell the queen and promise her gold and slaves. It was his job to do so. This is why he massacred the people and took what little gold they had, and used them as slaves. If he didn’t he would of came back empty handed, which wouldn’t be good for him, especially in the eyes of the people who funded his four voyages. In this sense Columbus was only doing his job.

What came to follow after Columbus is not his fault. He merely did his job for the queen, and sparked interest in other to travel the sea. Columbus is not responsible for the other explorer’s behaviors. If there is anything to blame him for, it would be setting the standards on how to treat the natives. In that sense he is guilty of more deaths than just the ones upon the island which he sailed. But he was not in control of those Conquistadors. To blame him for their deaths is ignorance; he can only be blamed for what he did upon those islands. Manifest Destiny was becoming the norm for men. They saw it as it was their right to explore and claim the land as their own or for their king and queen. If the natives never claimed the land as theirs, (They never believed the earth should be owned) then the explorers and the settles would take it for their own. That was not Columbus’s fault.

Conquest was a necessary part of human progress but only for this reason, Freedom. The colonies who eventually became the United States began to build upon the idea of no king and queen to rule them and further more the right to choose who would rule them. People began to claim rights for themselves. They began to have morals on what was right and wrong within society, not just what your ruler told you to do. In order for people to form such a group many loses occurred. In order to give a little, you have to lose a little. In order win, someone has to lose. Otherwise our pride in which we are would diminish; our hope that others give us would cease to exist.

My question is this: If the conquests never happened and America was still in habited by those who were first there would society be better or worse, and where would I be today? When I think about this question I think about my roots on my mother’s side. Would I even be here? Would I be me? Would I be Irish? I can’t answer these, and never will for that fact, but I am proud to be here and I am grateful for whom I am, and to the people who died getting me to where I am now. As for society we would probably have Kings and Queens ruling us. We would probably be waging war upon our neighboring countries, just like in renaissance times but with more sophisticated weapons. Woman would probably still have no rights and slavery would be just another stock market. But I will never know and nor will you. But relies we are here for a reason, whether we know what it is or not.